Vulnerable Price Of Gold (XAUUSD) Has Slightly Increased

Gold prices have continued to rise at the start of the week after hovering in the $1940 area as covid cases continue to increase in the Shanghai region despite the lockdown announced by the Chinese government. While there is a lack of major macroeconomic reports today, many investors will be keeping an eye on the geopolitical situation and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict which continues to cause uncertainty along with speeches from several FED members in the second part of the day. Furthermore, the US earnings season starts this week with major financial institutions being the first to report their results ahead of the Easter holiday after an unpredictable first quarter of 2022 which saw many impactful events across the world with oil and gold prices nearing their all time highs. Today, gold is trading around $1960 and could continue to be volatile throughout the week as it remains to be seen if it will be able to extend the upward move or if it will pullback once again.

UK GDP grows while production worries persist

UK Gross domestic product grew by 0.1% in February 2022, following a 0.8% growth in January 2022 with services growing by 0.2% thanks to a noticeable increase for services in February 2022 which was mainly driven by tourism-related industries and which has now brought real GDP to 1.5% above its pre-coronavirus level. This is a good sign for the economy but was slightly offset by production, which fell by 0.6% and construction, which fell by 0.1%. While rising inflation continues to be a significant risk, impacting both businesses and consumers significantly, today's data could provide another incentive to the BOE to take further action after it already implemented several rate increases.

Walid Koudmani

Market Analyst working in UK-Italian-Arabic markets covering a broad range of assets including stocks, commodities, FX and crypto. English, Italian and Arabic Speaker with a B.A in Business Management. Quoted in many prestigious publications including the Guardian, Barrons and Lefigaro and winner of bloomberg top forecast rank Q-2/Q-3 2020.